Candid Corner
- Buried under heaps of invective, a nation is lost for direction
“Confronted with such flagrant acts of intolerance, such abuses of the freedom of speech, a free society must surely do more. For, intolerance is the one thing that a free society cannot afford to tolerate.”
Ayaan Hirsi Ali
Celebrating diversity, showing tolerance for the counterview, shunning violence and remaining compassionate under the most trying of circumstances are some of the virtues which define the character and ethos of a nation. A society that is found wanting in any of these qualities is the one that has lost its way and is in dire need of help.
Acts of gory violence and gross intolerance are a daily occurrence in the country. Instead of voicing collective displeasure and forcing the authorities to take steps to arrest this heinous plunge, the society seems resigned to perpetuation of such vile behaviour. It is like a contagion which has impacted every living soul to varying degrees. Instead of exercising caution to combat the scourge, the bulk of the people have espoused it to do to others what they may have been subjected to through their interactions under different conditions and circumstances. It is a malaise which is boldly inscribed on the face of the society.
It is not just you. It is not just me. It is the whole spectrum of people who have been influenced by this infirmity. Even children are not spared the torment. There are frequent stories of them being subjected to belittling and inhuman punishments by their teachers, even parents. It is like a whole lot of people are venting their pent-up frustrations on those who are weak and not able to defend themselves.
Sexual exploitation of children is a phenomenon which has spread like pestilence. There are mafias who subject the innocent souls to indescribable brutality and throw their mutilated bodies on heaps of debris for animals to nibble at. Then there are stories unfolding on a daily basis of prayer leaders subjecting their students to brutal sexual assaults. But the conscience of the nation is not pricked as incident after such incident is absorbed as the bounty of fate itself. There is no way one can rationalise such pattern of thinking. It is like they expect no justice in this world and bequeath their fate, and that of those who may not be alive any longer, in the hands of the Creator for that is the only hope they continue to nurture. The rest is all dark.
It is no small pity that we are fast becoming a society that is inseparably rooted in violence. It is all but certain that we are losing the power of the spoken word and are fast taking to inflicting the pain that is born of the vileness of the tongue. The latest enactment of this crude macho art on the television screens is a testament to how far we have degenerated as a collective bunch of people. The abuse was not just confined to the two perpetrators. What transpired on the social media in its aftermath and the kind of brutal ugliness that was displayed as a consequence of the original brawl cannot be described in printable words. The crass and thoughtless espousal of one or the other narrative reflected our plunge into the deepest and the dirtiest of the pits.
What obscene manifestation of people we have become for the world to watch? What vile reflection of abuse do we portray to others? What infectious dehumanisation do we suffer from? We belittle humanity by calling ourselves human.
This is not the kind of society that I grew up in. But for some odd exceptions, by and large, there were compassionate people who shared others’ grief and happiness, who had a sense of justice that would be administered without cutting throats and taking recourse to such other extreme measures. They believed in a collective destiny and had time to invest in realising that. They stood by others in their times of need and lived like a community where each could depend on the other for support and sustenance. No more of that, no more.
It is now an unchartered charge for attaining exclusively selfish motives without a care whether such wicked indulgences would adversely impact others which could be avoided. If at all, such thoughts are a rarity now. My mind races back in time and multiple incidents flash past, each showing one’s deep sensitivity towards the others and their needs and cares. It never was like you could have your bit without first determining whether that could be done without harming others and their inherent interests. If any such incident ever occurred, the elders of the relevant community of people would gather to take stock and administer what would be a just solution – and it would be accepted by all.
We don’t live as a collective of people any longer. We live as individuals as if no one else is around. The prospect of others’ pain or suffering does not cross our minds. We are too engrossed in advancing our respective cause to the exclusion of others, and all tactics, without a thought about their cruelty and crassness, are employed in a rush to the finishing line. This is the only approach which appeals to the majority, so it is vastly accepted and practised by all shades, all sections and all classes of the society.
Like I said earlier, this is not how things used to be. There was humaneness which one could see and feel around. It did not carry a price tag. People could depend on it knowing full well that help and understanding would come from within the community of people they were part of. Abuse was not heaped upon others in full view of everyone, like there is no guilt, no embarrassment. People were not shunned. Instead, there was humility and humbleness. They knew that, as a family of people, they needed to knit together to be stronger and vibrant. Selfish tendencies were curbed in subservience to the cause of combined good. No one could roughshod others. Moral pressure had more weight than bruising and battering others with the venom of words.
But, then, life is never static. Time does not last beyond its natural cycle. It is swamped by the demands of times that follow, each bringing its own dictates, each bringing its own attitudes and mannerisms. In spite of this core realisation, one never imagined that the human mindset would be consumed so wholesomely by abuse and expletives which often find expression in profanities, more so by individuals who claim to be the role models of their respective clans. That they are not, that they cannot be.
As a nation, we are immersed so deep in the receptacle of shame that there is no coming out. And it appears that no one is interested in doing so. Since we have stayed there long enough, we have got used to the stink of our surroundings. That is the kind of life we feel comfortable living. So, that is the kind of life we shall have.
What obscene manifestation of people we have become for the world to watch? What vile reflection of abuse do we portray to others? What infectious dehumanisation do we suffer from? We belittle humanity by calling ourselves human.
Gutter mentality gets one only as far as it does. Let’s not forget that, in the end, we shall reap only what we sow. Pity!